"Saaaam!!!" Called my roommate, Lily. "We're leaving soon!!! Are you sure you don't wanna come? Liam's gonna feel like such a third wheel if you don't!!"
I rolled my eyes. "As if I care how Liam feels..." I yelled back over the music blaring from my speakers. Lily's footsteps thundered down the hall from our tiny kitchen to the door of my tinier bedroom. Her head poked in.
Her nose crinkled in disgust. "Can't you clean your room? And turn that music down? God, why do you spend so much time clicking away on that death machine? Sometimes I wonder how I handle living in the same house as you..."
I looked up from my laptop and smirked at her. "Believe me, I wonder the same thing every day." I looked at her from head to toe. "Didn't you say you were leaving soon? Why are you still in your pyjamas?"
She flushed. "Well, I was a little... Busy." She said hesitantly, glancing towards the door to her room where her boyfriend, Alex, was. I mimed throwing up.
"TMI."
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So are you coming or not?"
"Nah." I responded immediately, looking back down at my laptop. I started typing the next paragraph of the short story I was currently working on. Well, trying to work on. I was supposed to write a short story on anything for my creative writing course, but it wasn't exactly working out. All the stuff I'd written so far was either incredibly bland, or astonishingly nonsensical. Without a specific prompt to work from, I was absolutely useless at writing.
Lily snapped her fingers in my face. My head jerked up and she sighed. "There you go again, head in the clouds. Or should I say, in that laptop. I should really confiscate that from you one day and see what you do." She thought for a second. "Actually..." She grinned evilly and eyed my laptop with a certain impishness. Before I could fathom what she was planning, she snatched it from under my nose and slammed it shut, then dashed to her room to hide it. I darted out of bed and out the door, running into the one person I absolutely could not stand.
Liam.
The most insufferable, arrogant, egocentric bastard known to mankind, otherwise known as my best friend and roommate's brother.
His hands immediately shot out to steady me. He gave me an easy grin that made me want to punch him.
"Whoa there, Sam, I know you're happy to see me but you should really contain your need to touch me, it's getting kind of creepy."
I groaned. "God help me, a narcissistic son of a bitch is trying to seduce me."
He raised his hands in mock surrender, smirking. "Ah, you got me there, Sammy. My sole purpose in life is to make you love me. I wish you'd just make my job easier and kiss me already."
I rolled my eyes and shoved past him. "Lily, your asshole of a brother is here!" I pushed her bedroom door open and found her making out with Alex, my laptop squashed in between them. It took all of my self control to keep myself from screaming.
"Agh, Lils, my eyes are burning." said Liam from behind me. For once, I could agree with him.
Lily pulled away from Alex, clutching my laptop to her chest. I reached over to grab it, but she stepped back.
"Nuh uh uh, Sam. If you want your laptop back, you're gonna have to earn it."
I looked at her disbelievingly.
"I'm serious." She insisted. "You have to go out on a double date dinner with Liam, Alex and I." I glared at her. Liam snickered, then quickly turned it into a cough at the look both Lily and I gave him.
“What if I say no?” I asked.
“Then I take your laptop with me and you mope around at home, bored out of your mind.”
I tried the intimidation route, staring her down. She held her ground, giving me a relaxed smile as she crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one foot. Eventually, my shoulders slumped in defeat and I skulked to my room to change.691Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1WGmmXsKd
One hour later, I found myself sitting next to Liam, across from Lily at our local diner.
“Oh, wipe that pout of your face!” Lily exclaimed to me. “For God’s sake, it’s a dinner date, not a history lecture! No offence,” she added, turning to Alex, who was majoring in Russian History. He waved the mild insult away.
I ignored her. The waitress came by our table. “What can I get for you today?”
“A free pass out of here.” I mumbled.
“Sam!!” Lily chastised.
“Fries, please.” I requested. The others placed their orders and the waitress walked away.
“So.” Lily started, brightly. “Liam, how’s school been?”
Liam ripped open a sugar packet and poured it onto the table. “Oh, y’know, same old.” He poked a hole into the pile of sugar. “Professor Lindgren’s been droning on about music history like it’s the most interesting thing in the world. Why it’s a mandatory course for music majors, I’ll never know.” He sniffed the sugar.
“God, you’re weird.” said Lily with a look of disgust. Liam grinned.
“I know your opinion of me is super high, but you honestly need to stop calling me your God. Some people might get the wrong idea.”
I wanted to slap him. But the feeling was nothing new.
“Sam? What about you? You’ve been typing like a maniac lately, I can practically hear it from my room.”
I looked at her suspiciously. She never took an interest in my classes. “Uh… Well I got this assignment and I’m supposed to write a short story but I’ve been having a little trouble figuring out what to write about.”
She nodded in what seemed like understanding. “Maybe Liam could help. I know he’s been working on his own music lately. A musician and a writer, you two definitely have the combined creativity to be super successful!” I glanced nervously at Liam, but he was still preoccupied with his pile of sugar. Lily was rambling on about how Liam and I should collaborate. Pfft. As if. The day I agreed to voluntarily work with Liam would be a sad day indeed.
I stood up abruptly, tired of hearing about mine and Liam’s prospective success. Lily looked at me in surprise. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“I’m just gonna get some fresh air.” I answered. Lily was like a sister to me but she never really thought about thing the same way I did. She was sweet and innocent while I’d always had a bit of a darker outlook on life.
I stepped out the door and took a deep breath. It was quiet. The dark, night sky was brightened by the Toronto city lights in the distance. I walked further away from the diner then turned to look on the other side to see a breathtaking view of the stars. I leaned against a tree and closed my eyes, savoring the peace and quiet of the still night.
A shrill ring broke my tranquility. My phone. I took it out of my purse and glanced at the caller ID. It was my mom. She always talked for hours. I decided to ignore the call and just return it later. The ringing stopped and all was calm again.
Then the bell on the diner door jingled and suddenly Liam was next to me.
“Hello, there.” He said in what was possibly the creepiest voice I’ve ever heard.
I gave him a strange look, remaining silent.
“It was getting a little too lovey-dovey in there. I mean, Alex is a great guy (though obviously not better than me) but seeing my little sister kissing someone is just kinda weird, do you know what I mean?”
I ignored him again.
“Has anyone ever told you it’s rude to look away when someone is talking to you? It’s also rude to ignore people. I just thought you should know, since, well, you’re doing them both right now.” I pushed myself off the tree and strolled over to one a few meters away. Liam followed.
“For God’s sake, Liam, can you just go back inside and leave me alone?”
“Ah, so she speaks. Good. And you’re looking at me, too! You certainly learn fast--” The shrill ringing started once more. I groaned and took out my phone, declining the call again. My mom must really miss me.
Liam frowned. “Aren’t you gonna get that? What if it’s important? You know, one time I missed a call from my mom and it turned out I forgot my science project at home. My teacher almost gave me a zero, but thanks to my astonishingly good looks and charm, I got to hand it in the next day.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled slowly.
“Do you have a headache or something? Maybe you’d feel better if you kissed me, I’ve heard that it helps a lot of other girls. Here--” he leaned in and my hand flew across his cheek with a loud crack. He groaned and stepped back, but apparently still had the nerve to grin at me.
“Ah, it’s so fun getting you angry. Though that was the first time you actually got physical…” He looked somewhat worried.
“What, scared that I’ll scratch your pretty little face? That I’ll bend your perfect little nose? Listen to me, Liam, not everything is about you and you have to stop walking around everywhere like you’re better than everyone and everything because you aren’t, and just because every girl you’ve ever seen wants to have sex with you doesn’t mean every girl in the world wants to be near you because some people actually place more value in intelligent conversation than a handsome face so don’t just go around trying to kiss girls who won’t welcome it!!!” I finished, breathing heavily.
Liam’s face looked mildly surprised for a second, then it transformed back into his insufferable, nonchalant grin. “So does that mean you think I have a handsome face?”
I couldn’t think to do anything but let out a loud roar.
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